“Oh, you know, went out to dinner, did some studying, nothing major.” Lena’s eyes didn’t quite meet mine. “How about you?”
“I spent a lot of time with Netflix. We’re old friends,” I said.
Meg straightened up and glanced at me over her shoulder. “Watched any good British sitcoms?” She raised an eyebrow and almost smiled. Almost.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have an opening…
“Nothing too knobbish,” I replied dryly. Meg rolled her eyes, and I chuckled softly.
Lena looked between us in confusion. “Did I miss something?”
Meg responded “no” at the same time I said “yes.”
Lena shook her head. “Some things never change. I should be used to the two of you and your private jokes. Doesn’t mean it’s any less lame than it was when we were kids.”
Meg’s green eyes met mine and held for one second. Two… three. Until she finally looked away. I started to say something else—maybe comment about the weather or the Red Sox game on Sunday, who knows—but Landon called down to her from the top of the scaffold with a question, interrupting the would-be moment.
“Chelsea called already,” Lena whispered, and I appreciated her discretion. The last thing I wanted was for Meg to hear Chelsea’s name and go into lock-down.
I groaned, casting a quick look at Meg, who was prying the lid off a can of saffron yellow paint with a flat-headed screwdriver. “What the hell did she want?”
“She wanted to make an appointment with you.” Lena pursed her lips.
“I did tell her if she needed to talk to me, she had to book an appointment through you.”I just hadn’t thought she’d actually do it. I should have known. She had been much too quiet lately.
And Chelsea didn’t do quiet.
Lena smacked my arm. “Way to make me the intermediary between you and mega-bitch. Not cool, bro. Not cool at all.”
I rubbed the spot she had hit; my sister was stronger than most would think. “Sorry. I didn’t think she’d actually do it.”
Lena glared at me. “Well, she has, and I was forced to listen to her sob dramatically about losing a pair of Jimmy Choos at a nightclub on Saturday night. She’s torn up over it, I tell ya.”
“So? Did she make an appointment? If so, I need to prepare myself mentally.”
Meg looked over at us as she stirred the paint. I noticed that several drops had splashed onto her beat-up Vans. She had piled her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head, and her oversized Pittsburgh College T-shirt was ripped at the neck and fell down over one pale shoulder. I doubted she wore any makeup, but she had never needed it. She was fucking gorgeous.
“I told her you were booked up for the week, but to try again next Monday,” Lena smirked, and I wanted to hug her. My sister was good.
“You’ve just earned yourself a bonus,” I murmured quietly.
“Yep, a big one,” she whispered back just as Meg came over.
“I’m about to go up the ladder to start on the backdrop. Are you guys going to hang out here all day and watch?” Meg was teasing, but she was directing her comments to my sister. I felt a twinge of irrational jealousy at how natural they were together.
Lena appeared contrite. “I’m sorry, Meg. We were just going inside. Do you need anything? Coffee? Water?”
“I could murder a cup of coffee if you don’t mind,” Meg said.
“Sure. We’ll get out of your hair.” Lena grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
“Stop slobbering over her unless you plan to do something about it,” Lena scolded under her breath.
I gave her a surprised look. “I am not slobbering over Meg. What sort of delusional bullshit is that?” I sounded defensive. I was defensive.
Lena rolled her eyes—she did that way too often. “So you weren’t checking out her ass when she bent over?”
I didn’t bother to deny it. Lena wouldn’t believe me even if I did. Probably because I had been checking out Meg’s ass. I tucked that image away to be used later.
Jeremy was standing at the expensive coffee and espresso maker waiting for his cup to fill when we came in. Lena saw him and immediately veered toward the opposite direction.
“What about Meg’s coffee?” I said to her retreating back.
“You’re a big boy, make it yourself and take it to her. Then you can drool over her ass some more.” Lena wiggled her fingers and escaped to her desk.
I felt my face flush and glanced around realizing everyone heard her. Jeremy was grinning like an idiot. He peered over my shoulder to where Lena had retreated.
“Was it something I said?” he yelled after her. She responded by lifting her middle finger into the air. He chuckled, seeming amused by my sister’s abhorrence.
“Give her a break, Wyatt. No one’s in the mood for your aggressive flirting.” I all but shoved him out of the way so I could make Meg her stupid coffee.